In Erebus, in the beginner city Nightwood, Frost and Fallen were standing in the training hall. Frost was playing with a beginner alchemist kit that he bought while Fallen was shooting arrows at a scarecrow. The string of the bow would occasionally snap Fallen’s hand which subsequently made Frost smile.

“You can at least pretend that you’re not happy when this happens.”

“It does make me happy” said Frost smiling.

“You said that you would help me with my profession. All you did was watching me get hurt.”

“If you shoot all the arrows in your quiver, I’ll tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

“You’re an asshole. What are you doing anyway?”

“I’m raising proficiency.”

With that said, Frost took a glass with a strange mud-green liquid that smelled even worse than it looked and drank it.

Brewing (Active, Beginner level 3)

You are able to create low quality potions, poisons and drinks.

Mana consumption: 0

Requirements: Alchemic tools.

Iron Stomach (Passive, Special, Beginner level 9)

Effect and duration of poison decreased by 18%.

The taste of food does not bother you.

“Did you progress on your quest?” asked Fallen while preparing to shoot another arrow.

“Yes and No. This quest feels more like it’s out of a mystery game than a quest in a fantasy RPG. I went to the library to see if maybe I can find more about the incidents but the symptoms are really strange and none of the books that I read talked about it.”

“What are the symptoms?”

“All the people that died had slitted irises like a cat. Some had clawed fingers and the last two victims even had wings. I think that it may be a curse but there is no curse like that in any book I read. It’s really strange.”

“I think it’s even stranger that you read books. I’ve known you since we were little and I have never seen you read a book.”

“Manna has been a good influence on me.”

“Clearly. If it’s not a curse than maybe it’s a disease or maybe they ate something strange. Why don’t you talk to the town physician, Dr. Nemo?”

“Sometimes you do say something smart. I guess I could tell you what you’re doing wrong. You need to buy something called a vambrace or a bracer. It’s an arm-guard specific for archers and it will help you avoid getting slapped by the bowstring. To aim better, you need to find out which eye is the dominant eye. The dominant eye judges distance better and usually if your left eye is the dominant eye you use your left hand to pull the string and vice-versa. Your feet need to be shoulder-width apart and your body needs to be side-ways so your feet form a line towards your target. Use three fingers to draw the arrow near your eye for better aim and stability and relax your hand when you want to shoot.”

Fallen did exactly as instructed. He positioned the arrow and after concentrating for a few seconds released it. The arrow unfortunately missed the target by a large margin.

“Now all you need to do is practice.”

Frost left in a hurry. Fallen had a look as if to say ‘You tricked me’ even though the advice he gave was spot on. It was early in the morning and the town was brimming with life. Merchants were yelling that they had the best prices in Erebus and that their products were the best. Users were busy running around doing all kinds of quests. The guards were sleepy but stood just as tall and imposing as ever.

After asking around a few times he arrived at the doctor’s house. It was hard to describe it as a house. It looked more like a mansion that a noble might own than the home of a physician. It was pristine and in good taste. It gave people a good feeling, like it was blessed by gods. Frost went inside the garden in the front and before he even reached the house, the door opened and a man in his forties was standing in front of him. He gave off an air of nobility. He was imposing but still greeted Frost with a smile.

“May I help you?”

“Good morning sir. My name is Frost. I was wondering if maybe you could answer a few questions about the recent murders.”

“Yes, of course. Why don’t you come in?”

The house was just as beautiful on the inside. There was furniture made from reddish-brown wood and dark colored silk. There were also a lot of paintings and sculptures with strange writings on them. Some of them captured moments in time such as farmers being happy on harvest day, travelers on a dirt road sleeping in the tall grass and children playing in the snow in the winter. Others had a darker theme. There was a woman crying while her husband was going to war, people with solemn faces sharing a simple meal and a statue of a woman that was praying with tears in her eyes. The room gave of a pleasant but sad mood. Atop the fireplace was a large painting. A younger version of the doctor stood in the middle. On his right was a beautiful woman with red hair that was holding a baby boy. On his left, holding onto the doctor’s leg, was a young boy that looked like he just started walking.

“Enjoying my art collection?” the doctor came in holding a tray with two cups and a teapot.

“I didn’t mean to pry. You have a lovely family.”

The doctor just smiled and poured tea in a cup and handed over to him before sitting on a nearby sofa.

“What is it that you needed to talk about?”

“It’s about the recent deaths in town. Do you have any idea what might be causing this?”

“I might, but I’m curious why you are so interested in the deaths of those people.”

“Damian Troy asked me to see if I can uncover anything about these incidents.”

Nemo chuckled a bit. He took a sip of tea looked outside for a few moments before resuming the conversation.

“Mister Troy has always been a rather curious fellow. He’s a brilliant man when it comes to alchemy but to normal people he may seem…” He took a few moments to carefully choose his words. In Frost’s mind, the words insane, crazy, irritating and obnoxious and many others perfectly described Damian. “…odd. Yes, he’s a really odd person.”

“That’s kind way to put it” replied Frost while laughing.

“What do you know so far about the deaths?”

“I don’t think that they are accidents. From what I saw, they died in an unusual way. The strange thing is that all the victims had physical changes that made them look like an extinct race, demons. I think there’s a cursed object involved or a serial killer with a very unusual poison or curse.”

“So you know about demons. There are only a hand-full of people that still remember then these days. There’s not much I can tell you about those incidents. As a physician I can tell you for sure that there’s no way to change someone’s body with only alchemy, even if it is advanced alchemy, and if a cursed object was involved, wouldn’t it still be in the possession of the victims after their deaths? Moving a cursed object is extremely difficult so I don’t think that’s the case.”

“So that means there really is a serial killer out there.”

Quest update: One Apple a Day.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

“It’s okay. It was more than enough.”

While leaving he turned around one more time to look at the house. He didn’t know why but he felt calm and safe in there, like the house he spent his childhood in.

“Visit me again if you have more questions or just to talk.” With these parting words, Frost went back to the alchemist shop, ‘Pots, potions and peculiarities’.

It has been four days since he got the quest but because he couldn’t find anything more and he needed a few days to prepare before the one month restriction ended, he decide to end the quest early. Damian was sitting at the counter. He probably couldn’t find anyone foolish enough to accept to be experimented on while dealing with his unusual requests.

“Frost, how are you doing? Have you finished my request?” he greeted him with a smile.

“I have. I’m sad to inform you that this was the doing of a murder that employed the mystic arts to do his bidding.” Some NPC’s offered a bigger reword when the user was a bit more melodramatic so Frost was talking a bit strange.

“A murderer you say? Do you know who or how he did it?”

“I’m afraid not. This was all that I could find out in this short amount of time but of what I did find I am certain. I’m sorry I couldn’t find out more.”

“No, it was enough. It was a selfish request on my part. Please accept this as a token of my gratitude.”

Quest completed: One Apple a Day.

You have gained a level.

You have gained a level.

With a reward of 20 gold and two levels, Frost was more than happy with his gains. If he found the culprit and the method of assassination he probably would have gained a lot more but he lacked to time or the patience at the moment. With a strange hand movement and a few words, he logged out of Legacy for the first time since the game began. It was a bit earlier then the time he and Manna promised to meet but he couldn’t stand it anymore.

His cozy virtual home appeared in front of his eyes. It was just the same as how he left it. There was no surprise there. Nothing really changed inside this house without their consent. There was however a pleasant scent in the air. Someone was making food. He already knew who that someone was so he hurried to get to the kitchen. With her short hair and sleepy eyes, Manna looked like she was lost in thought.

“You’re early. I’m so glad you’re here early.” He said while staring at her cute dazed expression. In moments, she was wide awake and ran into his arms. The kiss they shared was the longest they ever had. It contained inside it all their thoughts and feelings.

“I have missed you so much.”

“We only have to be patient for a few more days; afterwards we can leave the city and use the town portals.”

“I can’t leave the city right now. I got a new profession and it comes with a rather unconventional teacher.”

“In that case, we’ll come to Spiriton.”

“Who’s we?”

“I met my brother in town. Apparently he and the rest of my family decided to play Legacy.”

“Great.” Somehow John knew she didn’t think it was great. It was probably because their first meeting went horrible. Surprisingly, Manna became better at sarcasm, almost as good as him.

“It gets better. My dad wants to meet. He’s in Demetoria and he wants to give us his blessing.”

“And you want to go there?”

“I do. You don’t want to meet him?”

“That depends on how well you can persuade me.”

She whispered the last sentence in his ear in a seductive way. His heart rate probably increased because he got a message from the system asking if he was alright. In truth, he didn’t need to be seduced. After almost a month of game time he was already at his limit. He quickly led Manna to the bedroom.

Later, Manna also told him what happened to her. To say that John was mad would be an understatement. He had a burning desire to see Gallant burn in hell. It took Manna a long time to calm him down. What calmed him were the fact that Manna told him, repeatedly, that she was fine and nothing happened and the fact that she told him she murdered him in a brutal way for her profession. She didn’t say what her profession was because she wanted to be a surprise but she did give away a few details.

After they ate dinner, which was long forgotten on the stove, they went back into Legacy. There were things that needed to be done. John needed to get a profession before he left town. The question was which one?

Last time he was a swordsman while Manna was a shaman. They made a good combination. She would buff him while he would be in the front, fighting monsters but now Manna decided to have a more active role so he was thinking to change things a bit. In a way it was better, it kept things interesting but he still wanted to be the one protecting rather than the one being protected.

“I’ll just wait until the last moment to choose.”

He decided to go the doctor’s house. Physician was a variation of the alchemist profession that had better support skills such as bandaging and an increase in the effect of potions.

Everybody could learn crafting skills up to intermediate. Only a few people learned crafting skills in the beta and almost nobody chose a crafting profession. Learning a few new skills would let him improve his party’s overall performance so it wasn’t a bad idea.

System message! The server is updating with a new patch. Please excuse the inconvenience. Hopefully this will be the last update. All problems related to the game will be fixed automatically by our new AI after the patch. ~ Ramos Cipher, CEO of Nocturne and creator of Legacy.

It was surprising that Legacy will not have any new system updates after this. The game was fairly new so bugs would appear from time to time or exploits would be found making the game unfair but with how powerful their Ai’s were it was possible that this was in fact the last update.

“Status window!”

Stat Window[quart=Character name,Title]Frost,N/A[/quart][quart=Race,Affiliation]Human,N/A[/quart][quart=Profession,Level]N/A,4[/quart][quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Affinity,Satiety]Poison,87%[/quart][quart=Health,Mana]120,120[/quart][quart=Stamina,Vitality]140,12[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Endurance]10,14[/quart][quart=Strength,Intelligence]12,12[/quart][quart=Agility,Luck]11,0[/quart][quart=Attack,Defense]3-4,5[/quart] Equipment bonus:

Novice Pants : Defense +1

Novice Shirt : Defense +1

Novice Boots: Defense +1

Novice set: Defense +1

Unused points: 15

“Skill window!”

Identification (Active, Beginner level 4)

Brewing (Active, Beginner level 3)

Iron Stomach (Passive, Special, Beginner level 9)

With a sigh of relief that everything was alright with his stats and skills he was on his way to the doctor. Fortunately, he was home.

“Have you come with more questions regarding the murders?”

“No, this is more of a social call. I was wandering if we could talk.”

“Certainly, I don’t get too many visitors these days except for a few people that can’t get healing at the temple or those that want better potions than those that are at the market.”

For a NPC the doctor liked to talk a lot, especially about his glory days. From what Frost could tell, he was a soldier in the army before he decided to retire and change his profession to that of physician. They talked for almost 3 hours but Frost didn’t mind. His stories were entertaining if not a little bit exaggerated in some parts.

“Do you have a wife?” the doctor asked out of the blue.

“I’m engaged for a little over a year.”

“What’s stopping you? Is it money or cold feet?”

“My family is a bit judgmental toward our relationship so we postponed.”

“She’s of a different race?”

“You could say that. My father wants to meet and make amends but I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

Frost took a few moments to sort his thoughts to explain the situation better.

“I love my family but they have a tendency to always hurt me. Manna was always there for me since I met her. She picked up the pieces after I was broken hearted and hid from the world. I’m scared to meet my father because if the meeting goes wrong, I would rather break all ties with my family rather than lose Manna.”

Nemo smiled, took a sip of tea from his cup and looked Frost straight in the eye.

“I can’t tell you what to do, but as someone who lost his wife I can tell you this: go to the meeting. Having to regret not doing anything will be harder that regretting doing something.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It was a long time ago and I have already mourned her for much of that time. I’m glad I finally had the chance to talk to someone about that.”

The mood became heavy after that and so Frost decided to leave.

“I never asked you what your profession was.”

“I don’t have a profession. I haven’t decided what to do yet.”

“That’s good. I think I have just the profession for you. It’s a bit more subtle compared to that of magician or swordsman but it’s incredibly useful. What do you say? Are you interested?”

Was it hidden profession? Frost knew that Manna gained one but he didn’t even hope to get one himself. From what he knew of hidden professions, they were incredibly hard to come by. Manna spent a lot of hours reading through the books in library. Her reading speed was incredibly fast. It would have taken a normal person at least three times that amount of time and not to mention the fact that it was very boring to do it every day. A normal person wouldn’t go that far for a C ranked quest. This was unexpected.

“Yes, I would love to learn it.”

“In that case there are a few things that you have to do for me first.”

Quest: Doctor’s trialsThe town physician has taken a liking to you and is willing to teach you his unique profession if you can pass his three trials.

Difficulty: ???

Quest requirements: Identification skill, Brewing skill, high familiarity with Dr. Nemo.

Rewards: Unique profession and maybe even something more

Failure: abandoning the quest

‘Of course it wouldn’t be that easy’

Quest accepted!

“What do I have to do?”

“I have to look after a few patients today but I also have to create a new batch of potions. Since you can’t make potions as potent as mine, I need you to treat the 10 patients I have for today. I won’t tell you how to treat them but I’ll help you a little bit.”

The doctor took a big book and placed it Frosts hands along with a few potions and alchemy ingredients.

“Hop to it.”

Unlike in the real world where the patients came to the doctor, I had to run around town and visit each of the patients in person. It was understandable because most of them couldn’t even walk.

The first patient was a miner. It was easy to understand what his problem was. He drank a little more than he should have had the night before and now he suffered from alcohol intoxication. In short he was hangover. The cure for that was a weak antidote potion.

The second patient was a young girl that broke her hand while playing. It took almost 3 healing potions to cure her but there weren’t any problems with her treatment.

From the third patient onward, in became more difficult. A merchant passed out in the middle of town. Because people were afraid he might have had some kind of disease, he wasn’t moved from there and a crowd formed. After using the Identification skill a few times on him I found out what the problem was. Apparently he traveled a long way and passed out from a dehydration hex. The cure was obviously water.

The forth patient was a fisherman. It was tricky to find out what his problem was because the Identification skill only listed his symptoms so I had to search the gigantic book. Apparently it was only a common cold. The cure was simple: Feed the patient until his satiety is at least 85% and then give him a health potion. After I cured him I got a new skill.

First Aid Treatment (Passive, Beginner level 1)

You are able to save someone from certain death and give him a chance to live.

+5% increase in effect of potions and healing spells.

Number of known treatments: 1

The patients 5 to 9 were difficult to diagnose or treat. It took me a long time before I cured them. I had to deal with a burn victim, a guy who swallowed poison by mistake, a little boy with internal bleeding, a farmer with a broken leg and a hunter that got too close to a pack of wolves and needed stitching. The problem was with the tenth patient. I had to help a woman give birth. This game shouldn’t be so real.

You have gained a new skill.

Diagnosis (Passive, Subskill, Beginner level 1)

You are able to identify ailments of the body.

Requires: Identification skill

When I got back to the doctors house, it was almost midnight. The lights were on in the doctor’s house so I went inside.

“Have you cured all the patients?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon. It should have taken you at least two days to cure them all. Anyway, are you ready for the next trial?”

“Is it going to be like the last one?”

“Don’t worry; this one will be a little bit easier. There’s a group of thieves at the edge of town. They harass the locals and some of them got injured. I want you to kill all of them.”

The first thing I thought was: ‘What kind of doctor are you?’ but then again he did say he fought in the war and almost massacred an entire army all by himself. I should probably avoid breathing the fumes when I’m doing alchemy otherwise I may end up like him and Damian.

“I’ll be back when I got rid of them.”

After Frost left, Nemo had a smile on his face. His eyes turned a dark red and horns grew on his head and on his back, bat like wings were visible.

“I wonder if he’ll be a good little demon.”

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